Why do people love/hate Batman so much?

[Parasondox]

Hello Escapist,
Okay first I want to say I don't hate nor love Batman. I just don't find that he appeals to me. So I was curious and wanted to find out from you how Batman appeals to you. Did you like him because of the Nolan trilogy? Was it because of the 90's cartoon or even the movies with Michael Keaton or TV series with Adam or the comics themselves. Even on the flip side, for those who don't like the character of Batman, what are your overall thoughts of him and why he doesn't grab your attention.

As I have already mentioned, Batman does not appeal to me nor does the concept of Bruce Wayne but would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Does he relate to you or does he just drive you up the wall?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I like him because he has to be resourceful. Resourceful characters are interesting. You wanna see how they figure problems out. The Nolan movies renewed my interest in him. And then the Arkham games came along, both brilliant. He's become a sign of good quality to me.

 

[Link_to_Future]

The first real movie that I remember sitting through was the original Tim Burton Batman. That sort of thing sticks with you for years.

Granted, I mostly just remember it terrifying me at the time. But I grew to love it, especially as I got a little older and started watching The Animated Series.

Why do I like Batman now? I dunno, he's a cultural touchstone and he's just cool. I don't really read comics but the Arkham games are a whole lot of fun and I love most all the movies for completely different reasons (except TDKR; maybe someday I'll be able to enjoy it but I need more time to pass).

Sure, I get annoyed with all of the Batman worship. He isn't an end all superhero and I don't want to hear anymore debates about whose ass he would kick and how with enough prep time.

But I like the character. That's enough for me.

 

[DefunctTheory]

I like him because he has to be resourceful. Resourceful characters are interesting. You wanna see how they figure problems out. The Nolan movies renewed my interest in him. And then the Arkham games came along, both brilliant. He's become a sign of good quality to me.

This is why most people like Batman, along with the fact that he has what is arguably the best Rogue Gallery of any comic book character. Also, as a lead character in DC (THE lead, really), Batman gets a lot of attention from a lot of the best in the business.

As for why people hate him... well, he's kind of bland himself. When poorly written, his resourcefulness turns into insane paranoid dues ex machina. And, probably the worst, Batman often ventures outside his comic, as most popular comic book heroes do. And since Batman is one of the lone normals in the DC universe's crazy menagerie of insanely God Like Heroes, his involvement in things like fights with or against Superman can get downright silly.

Personally, I like Batman.

 

[Little Woodsman]

Batman has been worked with by many great writers--and unfortunately many *not* great writers--over the years. Some of the great writers have left us with amazing stories & insights into the depths of the character. Back in the 70's when I was reading DC comics there were was an understanding that Batman brought something to the superhero community that powerhouses like Superman, GL & Wonder Woman didn't. No-one claimed he could beat up Superman, or Satan or Darkseid. But his detective skills got to the root of many problems, and his non-powered perspective led him to solutions that powered characters overlooked.
There's also the fact that he has to work and sacrifice to be able to do the things that he does. He has to put in hours training, exercising, making his equipment. He doesn't get the free pass of being 'super' just by being on this planet, or having an ultimate tool given to him by aliens. He gets by on his own wits & determination. A bullet could kill him, but he keeps going in to battle against super-villains. He could hang up his cape & cowl and enjoy the life of a billionaire playboy whenever he wanted to, but he kept on working to protect people who couldn't protect themselves. It's easy for Superman to be heroic, almost nothing hurts him. Batman keeps on doing what is right because he doesn't want anyone else to suffer like he suffered as a child if he can help it. And that is a *real* hero.

 

[Kolby Jack]

I like Batman. I always have. He's probably my fourth or fifth favorite comic book character after Wally West, Superman, Thor, and maybe Tim Drake. He's an interesting character with a great backstory and a wonderful supporting cast of allies and enemies that is unfortunately extremely popular right now. Bat-wanking is one of the most annoying things to find in comics, adaptations of comics, and fans ever since the Dark Knight Returns. It's fine for people to like Batman more than any other character. But there's being a fan, and being an idiot. One of those is not fine, and it's pretty common these days to the point where I generally hesitate to even I admit I do like Batman at all just for fear of being associated with that particular breed of stupidity. I try SO hard to not be a hipster about things, but with Batman it's pretty gosh darn tough.

 

[THEMILKMAN]

"Batman: The Animated Series" of course.

 

[MCerberus]

Best villains, fighting the crimes without super powers (except when he got a green ring for 15 minutes), and some serious childhood "I want that" toy envy. Gadget fetishism is pretty big in geek culture.

 

[bafrali]

Because It has had so many different interpretations over the years and went througgh so many different writers. Some writers and directors hit it out of the park and other times they make Batman and Robin and Allstar Batman. Character is so popular that you have little room to ignore it completely. So you either love it or hate it.

I mean look at these back to back:

 

[Yopaz]

I've grown up with a few Batman movies and a I've watched some of the cartoons. He always looked badass and the stories were interesting because there was little to compare it too (we only had 2 channels and thus the only cartoons aired from 8-10 in the weekend). I would have liked anything.

The Nolan trilogy was good and I bet there's a few who started liking him after that.

As for those who dislike him. Well he's getting a lot of overexposure from people who had barely heard of him before The Dark Knight. Some of those are convinced that he's the best superhero ever. Some geeks dislike him because he's not a superhero. Some dislike him because his popularity is based on very little of the source material. Some dislike him because he's a bland character. Some because they like Superman.

 

[The_Echo]

I have no interest in Batman. He's... boring, honestly. Having watched a playthrough of Arkham Asylum, I will say that I like the way he interacts with his opponents. But other than that there's really nothing interesting about him.

And I kind of hate how, even as the most un-super comic book superhero, he's still stupidly OP. For some reason, he's unbeatable if he's given "the time to prepare." Or so I'm led to believe, at least. So fuck that.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

Well he's had more success than any other superhero in having consistently good tv shows, videogames, and movies. Also I think part of the appeal is that he's a non-super powered human being and he goes toe to toe with and often defeats big super powered enemies and monsters in the justice league.

 

[MiskWisk]

I don't dislike the character so much. I mean most animated Batmen are brilliant (Batman TAS, Batman Beyond, The Batman) but I'm coming to hate his fandom more and more as they portray him as a god-like being to which no other man, super or not, can stand. It's rather irritating to me.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Currently I'm sick of him, he can be very boring and/or pretentious if done wrong, he's been done too often, and there's too many rip-offs.

There's lots of interesting things to be done with this character and those like him, but we see more whiny by the numbers stuff. A rich straight white guy isn't an inherently interesting person.

 

[Nuxxy]

I like Batman. I like Batman's villians. I don't particularly like the rest of the DC universe, and agree that making Batman fit in with Supermen (and women) requires a bit of nonsense.

But that's precisely why I like Batman. He is a human, fighting other humans (more or less). Which is why the animated series will always be the Batman touchstone to me.